contributi

Cihangir, located in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul between the famous Taksim Square and Kabataş shore, is my current place of residence. It also happens –perhaps not coincidentally– to be one of my favorite neighborhoods in Istanbul. In this article I introduce my hood to you.

There is one thing that seems to never go out of style in Turkish men fashion: facial hair. But here, the moustache is not just a fashion accessory! The symbolism of a particular moustache style is powerful to an extent that an unknowing foreigner would never guess. With a moustache, men can express their political preferences. An interesting phenomenon worth taking a look at!

My Turkish friend urged me to write an article about the recent Pegida demonstrations in The Netherlands. The news about how Pegida leader, Edwin Utrecht, encourages his fellow Dutch man to stop eating kebab and boycott Turkey as a holiday destination reached all the way to Turkey. Who is Pegida and what do they want to accomplish?

During my Erasmus semester in Istanbul, I grew to love Turkish cuisine. Turkey has a reputation of being a meat-loving country – and it is! – but many people don’t know that it can be a great place for vegetarians too. My experience as a vegetarian in Istanbul have led me to discover some spectacular meat-free Turkish foods.

A few weeks ago, during Cafebabel’s first meeting, many topics to write about were discussed. It being a popular topic among European and Turkish youngsters, one of them was football. Someone suggested that the article should be written by a girl. Because that would be fun, it was said. I tried to warn them: ‘I am not going to write an article about football!’, but with no success.